LISBON — There wasn’t much separating the two football teams Saturday in the Western Class D final.

One pass, one turnover and one point made the difference in a 7-6 win for Oak Hill High School.

The Raiders repeated as regional champions by scoring on their only pass completion, and then crushed Lisbon’s hopes with one crucial turnover.

“Both teams played a very good game,” Oak Hill coach Stacen Doucette said. “One mistake here. One mistake there. Otherwise, it was perfect. It was a well played game by both teams. Both teams rose to the occasion defensively and made it an old-fashioned, physical type game.”

The defending state champs return to Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland on Saturday for the Class D state championship. The time of the game will be announced Monday.

The Greyhounds had allowed just one Oak Hill first down for most of the second half and had two nice drives, but couldn’t finish them off. A fumble at the 3 ultimately nixed the Greyhounds’ hopes.

“They’re a good team,” Lisbon coach Dick Mynahan said. “They’re a well-coached team. Our kids worked hard. They worked hard. At times we moved the ball well. Then, at times, they moved the ball well. Obviously going in, we thought turnovers would be a big factor and that happened to us again.”

The Raiders’ ground game was steady, and when Oak Hill had the chance to close out the game in the final minutes, the Raiders produced four first downs to eliminate the chance of one last Lisbon possession. Senior Kyle Flaherty led the Raiders with 111 yards on 30 carries, while classmate Alex Mace scored the lone touchdown and had 92 yards on 17 carries. Mace also had the lone reception of the game, turning that into a 40-yard TD.

“You can’t say enough about those two,” junior quarterback Dalton Therrien said. “They’re two of the best athletes I’ve seen in my life. Whenever you give them the ball, you know something’s going to happen.”

That’s what occurred when Mace took a short reception and turned it into a 40-yard scoring play.

The Raiders produced a great drive on their first possession, taking seven minutes off the clock. Oak Hill’s drive stalled at the 31, and the Raiders were determined to make their next possession count.

“We were running the ball and getting good yardage,” Therrien said. “I told the guys, ‘This is it. We’re going to come down and we’re going to score.’ It was just a normal play that we run. I turn around and throw it. The line gave us plenty of time. I had as much time as I needed. I could have run the ball. They were awesome. They were great.”

The Raiders were facing second-and-11 from the 40 on the play. Therrien hit Mace with a short pass on the left side. Mace broke tackles and turned it into a lengthy scoring play and 7-0 lead with 7:15 left in the half. It was Oak Hill’s first pass of the game.

“We made some good plays,” Doucette said. “Alex is deadly in space. He made a great play. It was the right situation. They were committed to the run. We figured we had to take a shot.”

Lisbon came right back with its own drive and scored with 2:20 left. Shawn Grover burst up the middle for a 16-yard run. Tyler Halls tried to complete a pass for the conversion, but it was dropped in the left corner.

Noah Francis had 82 yards on 18 carries for the Greyhounds. Halls, replacing injured quarterback Kyle Bourget, threw for 73 yards on five completions and ran for 34 yards on 10 carries.

“Tyler is an exceptional athlete,” Doucette said. “He was perfect. He ran that team like he’d been doing it all year. He’s going to be an exceptional football player.”

Oak Hill had a chance to add to the lead with a drive late in the first half but an interception by Blake Berube ended that chance at the 17 with 21 seconds left.

In the second half, Lisbon outgained Oak Hill 112-88 and held the Raiders to just the one first down for most of the half. While the defense gave the Greyhounds opportunity, Lisbon just couldn’t finish off its drives.

“We made many opportunities for ourselves,” Mynahan said. “The kids did a really nice job. Tyler made some really big plays for us. The kids backed him up. I was proud of the way they stuck together out there.”

Lisbon’s best drive started at the 17 after a great Oak Hill punt. The Greyhounds ground game started moving them forward while Halls, a sophomore, hit a couple of completions, including a third-and-13 that extended the drive. A pass to Joe Philbrick set them up at 4. Just two yards from the end zone, the ball came loose on a Francis run up the middle. Junior Brendon Tervo was there for the recovery.

“I didn’t see who tackled him,” Tervo said. “I trust my line. I trust my family. I just dove on it. My brother (Kyle) missed it and hit it toward me.”

Lisbon’s defense stopped the Raiders’ next possession and forced a punt. Lisbon took over at its own 45. The Greyhounds used the running game to get the ball to the 43. Then Francis got stuffed on first down. A Halls pass was dropped in the secondary and another incompletion followed. Lisbon, facing fourth-and-10 was forced to punt. This time, the Raiders didn’t give the ball back.

“We talk about bending and not breaking and it showed,” Doucette said. “They got it inside the 10, but we got the turnover.”

A heavy dose of Flaherty and Mace churned out a handful of first downs and ticked off the clock as Oak Hill preserved the lead.

“Our line knew what we had to do,” Therrien said. “With one first down, we were that much closer to winning the game. We were kind of just chipping away a little bit.”

It was a narrow win earned by a solid team effort by the Raiders. A number of players came up with big plays to help deliver a close victory against a tough Lisbon club.

“This team that I play on is the best one-heartbeat team,” Therrien said. “We work as one group, and we get it done as one group. There’s no stars on this team. We’re one group.”

kmills@sunjournal.com